Former Trump White House Chief of Staff and co-defendant Mark Meadows on Monday filed an emergency request to stay his order in the Georgia 2020 election racketeering case.
The emergency request was filed after U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in Atlanta ruled Friday that Meadows cannot move his trial to federal court, after which Meadows filed a notice of appeal.
Meadows is among 19 co-defendants, including former President Trump, who were indicted by a grand jury last month related to attempts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election, following a more than two-year investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
All 19 co-defendants face racketeering charges. Meadows, also faces an additional charge of solicitation of violating an oath by a public officer. Meadows took part in the January 2, 2021 phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, during which then-President Trump pressured his fellow Republican to “find 11,780 votes”—exactly one more than he needed overturn his election loss in Georgia.
Meadows’ attorneys requested last month to move his case from Fulton County to federal court, arguing that all of his actions from which the charges derived “occurred during his tenure and as part of his service as Chief of Staff.”
In his ruling on Friday, Jones disagreed, writing that Meadows “has not shown how his actions relate to the scope of his federal executive branch office.”
